1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for assisting an individual, product provider and/or service provider. More particularly, the present invention is related to a method and system for assisting an individual by predicting behavior or an emotional state of the individual, and the product or service provider by providing useful information for promotion, rating, selling and standardization purposes, or for the design of customized products.
2. Description of the Related Technology
As many have said, “life is hard and then you die.” Making a human's daily life easier has been a primary driving force for societal advancements throughout human history. Recent activities have been focused on assisting the daily lives of people with special needs, such as the elderly and disabled. Many devices have been invented to address various aspects of these special needs. Product and service providers are interested in information to enable them provide products and services to assist people.
US 2012/0166210 discloses a system for improving the quality of life for a person who wants to live independently but needs assistance with activities of daily living. The system includes: (a) a computer system capable of providing information on the assisted person's daily living activities, and managing elements of commercial transactions between the assisted person and vendors; (b) an assisted-person portal for the assisted person to initiate commercial transactions with vendors; and (c) a care-provider portal for the care provider to access information about the assisted person's daily living activities, and to manage transactions initiated by the assisted person. Information on the assisted person's daily living activities may include data from sensors of the assisted person's movements, biometric data, activity to monitor biometric readings, and information about instrumental activities of daily living.
US 2012/0136666 discloses an automated personal assistance system for a person disabled as a result of injury, disease, or aging. The system includes a plurality of residential sensors installed at a residence which sense environmental parameters of the residence, a plurality of occupant sensors sensing parameters of an occupant of the residence which may include the current location of the occupant within the residence, a plurality of environmental actuators controllable to vary the environmental parameters of the residence, and an assistance controller programmed to adjust the environmental parameters via the actuators in response to the measured environmental and occupant parameters. The system may employ artificial intelligence technology that has functions of speech recognition and synthesis, situational awareness, pattern and behavioral recognition, and ability to learn from the environment.
WO 1999/062043 discloses a portable electronic device for assisting a person with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders in performing daily living tasks. These tasks can include making a bed, applying makeup, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and eating a meal, or hundreds of other tasks. The device comprises at least one processor; memory associated with the at least one processor; a display; and a program supported in the memory. The program comprises: (a) means for enabling the person to create a schedule of tasks to be performed at predetermined times; (b) means for alerting the person at the predetermined times to perform respective tasks; and (c) means for determining and recording the time taken by the person to perform the tasks. The program is designed to allow the person to develop a personal schedule of these tasks and special events. The device alerts the person at predetermined times to perform scheduled tasks and coaches and motivates the person in completing the tasks through text, audio and animation.
US 2008/0256445 discloses a system and method for delivering quality care to older adults by aiding the individuals in the completion of tasks of daily living. The system includes a controller, sensors, and effectors. The controller may include a program that describes a sequence of steps a person should perform to accomplish the task. In response to information from the sensors and the person's compliance with the sequence of steps, the controller instructs the effector(s) to relay at least one instructional cue to the person for aiding the performance of the task. The instructional cue may range from a simple blinking light, to detailed audio and/or visual instructions, to relaying a reward for completion of the task. The instructional cue may also instruct the user to refrain from performing a task.
More recently, biosensors have been used to assist patients or caregivers in managing patients' healthcare needs. EP 1 212 601 A1 discloses a system including a biosensor to monitor the blood glucose level of a diabetic patient. The system may provide an audible alarm to warn the patient if glucose levels get too high or too low. A computer may control an insulin pump to correct the blood glucose level of the diabetic patient. Ideally, the biosensor would be used in conjunction with an implanted insulin pump and would functionally replace the pancreas in controlling blood glucose levels.
Biosensors are more commonly used in medical diagnostics (Turner, “Biosensors: sense and sensibility,” Chem Soc Rev, volume 42, pages 3184-3196, 2013). Simple, easy-to-use Biosensors for a diverse range of biologically relevant analytes have generated tremendous interest in the healthcare industry. U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,068 discloses an implantable device with a biosensor for diagnosis of various diseases. The device includes a sensor unit, a controller, a therapeutic unit, and a power module. These components may be interconnected or communicate with other components using electrical, electronic, or electromagnetic signals, e.g., optical, radio frequency, digital, analog or other signaling scheme. The biosensor may detect an individual's genome, proteome, metabolism, transcription, translation, blood pressure, carbohydrates and oxygen concentrations. The methods and systems discussed above do not address providing assistance, advise, guidance or feedback based on information related to a person's behavior or emotional state correlated to a person's biological markers, and optionally their temporal location. The present invention is directed to assisting a person's daily living by providing the ability to alter the living environment of the person, providing advice, guidance and/or feedback to the person for accommodating the person's behaviors or emotional states. The invention is further directed to providing the information to product or service providers, who can use the information to standardize or rate products (such as product quality and efficacy), for promotion and selling purposes, or for the design of personalized or customized products.